Harley Davidson's and Toothpicks

You've probably been wondering what happened to me and where I've been all week. Well, let me tell you. Standing over the sink doing dishes...and more dishes....and more dishes. You see, I do not have the luxury of having something called a dishwasher. There is not anywhere to put one.

Good grief - I think I've washed more dishes in the last 5 days than I have in my entire life. I'm beginning to believe that someone is taking 1 drink out of a glass and getting a clean glass for the 2nd. Everytime I walk through the kitchen there is another sink full for me to do.

Yesterday, I had already done 2 sinks by 10am. My husband then decides that he's tired of waiting on breakfast so comes and gets more pots and pans, spatulas, silverware, plates, glasses, tongs, cheese grater, egg beater, measuring cups, measuring spoons, strainer, a ladel, and everything else you would find in a kitchen. I am then finally forced out of the kitchen by the smell of smoke from something burning on the stove and go get ready for our trip to the city with the 3 kids who have become a pain in my behind.

After breakfast I grab my purse to run out the door since they are inching their way down the drive without me. I glance at the sink to find another sink full of dishes when all that had been made for them was bacon, toast and cereal. Why is every kitchen utensil in my sink and my cabinets empty because everything is dirty again? I immediately make a mental note AGAIN to remind myself to pick up plastic silverware and paper plates before I get home.

Off to the big city we go. I am not sure why my husband insists that I attend every single meeting he has other than for the fact he can't remember but only 1 sentence that was said during an important meeting. We were on our way to meet with an attorneys office over a disability claim for his back which was hurt 16 months ago. This is a very serious and important meeting, but there we head off with 3 kids in the backseat who are to sit quietly during this meeting. We've never been to this office before and I sit there the whole way wondering why I am even going - there is such a thing as a pen and paper for him to take notes. Just as we are getting near where we are to exit off the highway, he reaches for his handwritten map with the directions to their office they had given him over the phone. It was written in no particular order and appeared to be something like this:

1/2 block
right
immediate left
look for sign
stop sign
street light
another right
left again

In the meantime the kids are in the backseat playing the alphabet game at the top of their lungs.

"THERE'S AN S!!!"

"WHERE???"

"BACK THERE!!!"

"WHERE?????"

"I DIDN'T SEE AN S!"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF IT'S BEHIND US!"

"IT WASN'T BEHIND US WHEN I SAW IT!"

With the hand of God, we found where we were going. It was a huge building with lots of steps and elevators. Oh joy.

By this time I am cranky beyond belief ~

We finally find the office we are looking for and the door is locked. It is 12:55 and we are to be there at 1:00. We wait in the hall as we are going to need another map to find our way back out. The kids have already touched everything and tried to open every door. I continue to keep snapping at everyone telling them to be still. I look at my husband waiting for him to say something and he is just standing there as calm as can be. I then look at his cowboy hat he is wearing and ask "Why exactly do you feel the need to keep a TOOTHPICK tucked in your hatband"???

This is no biggie to my husband either. He wears cowboy boots with shorts. I did get embarassed back in the day and still do, but have learned to just deal with it since he finds my comments insulting in regard to him dressing himself.

I head to the nearest window to peek out -- wishing I could climb out and walk home. I hear a voice from behind me speaking to my husband and apologizing for the delay.

To my surprise as I enter the office there stands the most decked out Harley Davidson man I have ever seen in my life. Tattoos, rings, earrings -- the whole leather thing going on, including the beard down to his chest. The kids wait out in the tiny waiting area and have been threatened with their lives to stay calm and not argue. Of course my husband loves this guy as he is not a flashy snobbish man and is not offended in the least by the toothpick in my husbands hat.

Finally we left and headed back home. All I was looking for was a rock -- a big rock to crawl under and come out of when school starts. I was thinking about the Dunkin Donut's man commercial where he wakes up and says, "Time to make the donuts" -- all I could think was "Time to do more dishes".

Of course I was in such a hurry to get home I forgot the plastic silverware and paper plates. Oh well, that will give me an excuse to leave today for a while.

Here is the wonderful gift the kids left me earlier in the week.



and I keep getting these looks:



46 days left until school starts.